Report from the Legislature September 20, 2018

Sep 20, 2018

Over the past decade, Saskatchewan has had the second highest job creation rate in all of Canada, nearly double the national rate of job growth.

Saskatchewan continues to grow with an increase of 2,800 full-time jobs since August 2017.

We are thankful to our job creators for stepping up and continuing to create opportunities, however, we remain cautious of headwinds in the labour
market created by the federal government.

Saskatchewan’s economic growth continues to be put at risk by trade disputes, the job-killing Trudeau carbon tax, and the federal government’s inability
to get a pipeline project built that they now own.

Since the election of the Trudeau government, Canada’s relationships with Saskatchewan’s major trading partners have deteriorated, and our agricultural
exports have been impacted in a variety of countries including India, China, Saudi Arabia and Italy.

There continues to be uncertainty in the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement and we continue to be subject to punishing U.S. tariffs
on our steel and softwood lumber exports. This is why we are embarking on trade missions to support Saskatchewan industries grow and diversify
their export markets in order to maintain and create jobs for Saskatchewan people here at home.

Trade and its related investment play a vital role in our provincial economy, supporting thousands of jobs and generating billions in wealth for our
province.

This past spring, when western Canada was facing serious shortages in pipeline capacity, we calculated the cost to Saskatchewan’s economy to be $2.6
billion, with a direct cost to taxpayers, who own the resource, at about $210 million.

That's a result of Canadian producers who are restricted in getting their product to market by either rail or truck, thus taking a discount from the
world price of oil.

Today, that price gap has grown, and the cost to our economy is now $4.4 billion per year, and $300 million to taxpayers.

That $300 million could help build more schools, pave more roads, and provide more services to Saskatchewan people, but when our nation can’t get pipelines
built, or worse, when the NDP and other interest groups oppose them, we all lose.

Your Saskatchewan Party government will continue to advocate for pipelines to tidewater for Western Canadian oil in order to reduce the price differential
that our oil currently faces, and to reduce the amount of oil that is currently transported by rail that has created backlogs for our agricultural
products and other resources like potash and lumber.

We will also continue to stand up against a carbon tax, which will make Saskatchewan, and all of Canada, uncompetitive for foreign investment compared
to neighbouring U.S. States that will never have a carbon tax. These U.S. States have been made more attractive due recent tax changes and less
burdensome regulations.

The leader of the Saskatchewan NDP has called our government’s carbon tax fight a “pointless crusade”. We don’t believe standing up for Saskatchewan
people and Saskatchewan jobs is a pointless crusade and we will continue to stand up on these and other issues important to our province.

Focused on the careful management of spending, keeping our economy strong, and investing in priorities for Saskatchewan people, Saskatchewan’s three-year
plan to balance the budget by 2019-20 remains on track. Recently, Moody’s Investors Service confirmed Saskatchewan has the highest possible credit
rating – Aaa – a further demonstration that our fiscal plan is working.